Yes there was a ride this past Saturday in which I participated. The plan was to meet at a certain point at 6:45am to prepare for the ride with such necessities as, coffee and gasoline, leaving promptly at 7:00am.
There were five participants, whom will be referred to as bikers in the rest of this exciting article. First I should say that all the bikes were gold wings of varying age. The first leg of the ride took two hours as we were heading southwest. The temperature of 55 degrees was perfect, if you were sitting still on the porch having a cup of coffee. 55 degrees at 70 mph is much cooler and I was happy that I had a coat on, but I wished I had the liner in it.
At the end of two hours we took a break at a service station where some of the bikers needed to drain their bladder. After a short break we continued our venture in the same direction. The ride took us onto some small farm roads where there were open pastures. We crossed several cattle guards and the road was basically one lane. This part of the ride was rather slow and easy going. There was some nice scenery but we did not stop to enjoy or take any photos. Our lead biker likes to stay on schedule and he likes to arrive at the location where we will have lunch prior to or at 11:00. This is so we get seated early and don’t have to wait on others to get our food.
As a kid I have stepped into cow manure many times, but this may have been the first time I have ridden my motorcycle through cow manure. My poor tires!
As we rode this one lane farm road we came to a low water crossing. The crossing was cement and only had about one inch of water running across it. Riding slow each bike crossed one at a time, I was the last rider in the group, as I have the reputation of not always keeping up with the bike in front of me. The biker in front of me made a little error when crossing this low water area. Instead of riding in the tire tracks of vehicles that had crossed previously, he rode through the middle, between the tire marks. Nearing the other side his bikes back wheel began spinning and first went to the left causing him to attempt to correct. His attempt at correcting cause the bike to them slide violently to the right and hitting the dry pavement totally sideways the bike went down.
The photo is of the crossing where the accident occurred. We had already up righted the bike and moved it away from the crossing, click to enlarge.
The good news is the bike was not damaged in the wreck! Oh, the rider received a few scrapes and cuts but he was ok. I eased across the low water area after seeing this incident. A band aid and some water to drink, that tough biker was ready to continue the ride.
I took a photo of a weed that is kind of pretty for a weed. It would have been better if I had moved the bike which would have removed the shadow. Click to enlarge.
We arrived in Fredericksburg about 10:45am and we went to the German restaurant where we had to wait for it to open. Their prices were a little high, ok they were a lot high, and so I along with three of the bikers had hamburgers that cost $9.99 each. It was so dark inside the restaurant that we used our cell phone lights to read the menu. Our eyes did adjust after several minutes.
The rest of the ride was much warmer, as a matter of fact it was hot riding with the long sleeved shirts and helmets on. Our ride towards home was at time very interesting but the group did not stop to enjoy any of the scenery. I saw several areas that I would have liked to taken a photo or two from but I did not want to be left too far behind so I didn’t stop.
At one point I did stop and take a quick photo and then hurried to catch the group.
Consider what it must have been like for the first settlers in this area. How would you like to try to make a living out here? Click to enlarge.
We were about 35 miles from home as we rode through Gatesville TX. It was 4:20pm and we had been on the ride for 9 hours and 20 minutes, and on the bikes for 8 hours and 20 minutes. Have you ever sit on a motorcycle seat for more than 8 hours, it makes your behind hurt.
I was tired so I decided that if they turned to take any road other than the one leading back to Waco, I was not turning with them. I was ready to get home and hope the other bikers were also. I wanted to be home by 5:00pm. Well, they turned and I didn’t. Once out of the city limits, I set the cruise control on 75 mph and headed home. I stopped for gas in Hewitt and made it home at 5:00.
A good ride, but not enough breaks. It may be that I am getting older, or maybe I just do not enjoy continues riding events were the goal is, sitting on a moving bike. Possibly future rides will be of my choosing or maybe I should just sell the bike!
Take time to see the sites and smell the wild flowers!
Don Ford
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